A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

Two chapters to go after this…

The sequel to this will be called 'Fortitude'. It's all mapped out now, I have a good idea where it's going to be heading.

There are a number of suggestions for the sequel people have given me for what they'd like to see.

I might turn it into a trilogy if people would like one. Don't worry I won't be offended if you don't want it.

Chapter 28: Predetermined

Vlad stood tall as he waited for the Nobles to burst into the room. His gaze was fixed on the door and his hands were clenched by his side, occasionally his arms swayed as he debated whether to leave them where they were or cross them.

They didn't disappoint him; they came in alongside the two Hartleighs. Each had a stake gripped in their hands; their hands trembled though not with fear. They were shaking with red-hot fury as they looked around the room.

Erin rose slowly from her seat as she saw her parents' gaze finally settle on her after sweeping the room carefully studying who was in it and where the available exits were.

She stepped back slightly towards Ingrid and Vlad. Vlad didn't touch her but she could see he was tempted to.

"Erin." Thomas warned slowly, looking at his daughter. His stake not wavering from where he could throw it at the Count, he was surprised that there wasn't a single flicker of fear in the vampire's eyes. Usually his prey would be begging for their unlives by now.

"Dad." Erin answered shortly, she wasn't three anymore that tone didn't affect her.

He was going to give his rebellious, shameful daughter a chance. "Come here Erin, and we'll go and pretend this never happened."

Erin shook her head, "No, I don't have to do what you say anymore." Vlad was technically her master now or rather he would be according to Vampire Law. She had to obey him – for the moment. She knew Vlad would never enforce the Law.

Erin weathered the storm filled looks they sent her way, she didn't care this time she was the one with the upper hand.

She chanced a glance at Vlad and saw his still tense position; he was ready to defend her physically if necessary.

For the first time she was the one in control of her life, and they weren't going to change that.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Andrew was the first to speak after Erin's defiance, "So you're back with the vampires."

"And the slayers." Jonno added stepping into the light fully, Mina following him half a step behind. Jonno gripped his stake tightly, it wouldn't have the same effects on a human as a vampire but it still could seriously harm or even kill.

"You'd betray your own people?" George laughed humourlessly, unable to believe that the Van Helsings would go against their own kind considering what had happened to Jonno's father.

"Erin isn't a slayer she's a human, we're protecting the Truce." The number one rule of slaying was to protect humans.

Steph shook her head, contradicting him, "She's a trainee slayer."

"No she isn't." Jonno smiled at him, he was going to play ignorant see if George revealed what he'd done.

Silence fell over the room like a blanket, each person waiting for someone else to speak. No one took the chance; they all eyed each other carefully.

Mina eventually had enough of the silence and decided to cut it short. "Even if you promised to give her back her licence it was invalid from the start no matter what contract you signed."

"Just because four of us didn't agree?" George laughed, "My son needs children to carry on the name, he's one of the oldest slayers at twenty six that's still in the field. They gave me something I needed. She's a useless slayer but a very pretty arm ornament. My signature overrules any other contract."

Andrew waved his stake gesturing to Erin, a feral smile on his face. "I want my bride back." Erin turned away, trying not to retch at the gleam in his eye. He wanted to teach her a lesson.

Vlad pushed Erin behind him, looking at them closely. "Erin's not your bride." Erin didn't move from behind him. This is what Vlad's customs meant when they told him to protect her as her husband although he'd always protected her in the same way.

Andrew smirked before reaching into his pocket and withdrawing the contract. He opened it and waved it in Vlad's face. He enjoyed taunting the young vampire.

Vlad tipped his head, looking at the parchment. He felt the urge to click his fingers and burn it but he realised that would be childish; also it was exactly the reaction Andrew was hoping for.

Erin slowly lifted up Vlad's signet ring, waving it back at Andrew.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Thomas asked Jonno. He didn't understand the significance of it. Most vampire customs were elusive to slayers, they preferred to stake first then ask questions, even more so in the last four years.

"It's Vlad's crest." Erin told them gently.

Steph was afraid of the answer to her next question, "Why are you wearing it?"

Jonno decided that it would be best to direct the answer to the one person who would protest first. "George," Jonno began slowly, "The Contract's invalid, Erin was already engaged by vampire customs. She accepted Vlad's offer to protect her as her husband before she ever left here in the first place." He gestured to the young woman in question. "Erin didn't need to tell us at the time because she wasn't a slayer." They weren't admitting that they only found out the significance of the ring recently.

"She's not even eighteen!" Steph shouted, disgust clear in her voice.

Vlad face darkened and the dim lights in the room brightened, the vampires winced at the sudden change in lighting conditions. "That didn't seem to bother you before when you arranged her match to Andrew!"

Steph's face softened as she realised he was right, she was being a hypocrite. In truth she had never wanted the match to happen. She felt a small glimmer of relief that Erin had found a way out of it. "Why didn't she tell us?"

Ingrid answered first, "Would you have listened?" No one answered that question; "You would have ripped it from her the moment you found out. Denied she was ever engaged. You say we're backward but what parents would force their daughter to breed with a monster like that."

Usually vampires were referred to as monsters but at the moment Andrew was the monster.

George corrected Ingrid immediately, "She'll have his children."

The Count answered this time, even amongst their culture having heirs or children wasn't referred to as breeding. "Having children is willingly done, breeding isn't. I can't see Erin willingly having Andrew's children do you? After all it isn't out of love its out of duty to build up your kind's numbers." He gestured to his son and future daughter in law. "Any children Vlad and Erin have will be born out of love, just as mine were."

Ingrid felt her throat close slightly at her father's slip. He hadn't declared that only Vlad was born out of love. She didn't know how to react to that, tears welled in her eyes. She was glad she'd caught the slip even if she never heard it again, for once she knew how her father felt about her.

"My son will be mating with your daughter. He's already chosen her, by our Laws and you can't stop it as my son has the prior claim on her." Erin prayed they didn't interpret 'chosen her' for what it actually meant at this moment. It wasn't the right moment for them to work out that they'd actually slept together.

Thomas and George shook, they were being made fools of here, they couldn't stand this for a moment longer.

"We'll fight it!" Thomas yelled at him.

"You can," Vlad conceded, that as before his fangs lowered, "You'll lose." He let out a hiss and electricity danced along the ceiling.

The slayers jumped back in fear, for the first time they were scared of the power the young vampire wielded. That wasn't even his full powers either.

Erin could have rolled her eyes, he was showing off now. She gently tapped his stomach and immediately his powers relaxed turning off quickly. The electricity seemed to draw itself back to him as if attached by elastic.

The Nobles and Hartleighs studied him, curious of his complete control over his powers.

They looked at Erin who didn't seem fazed by his powers but the other vampires and slayers did still look slightly nervous.

The vampires had a good reason considering they knew what it felt like to have his powers turned on them.

"You don't scare me vampire." Andrew began, this would be just one more notch to carve. He'd be hailed the hero when he slew the most powerful vampire.

He didn't care about having to wait to claim his prize; he'd make sure history was twisted to know he'd rescued the poor slayer girl from the evil vampires clutched.

Thomas looked at his daughter with a mixture of disappointment and repulsion on his face. "Erin's a disgrace to our family, even Claude Noble didn't intentionally betray the Guild for a vampire. She was supposed to restore honour to the name of Noble. You made sure she couldn't do that."

"Erin's destiny was dictated by something that happened over a hundred years ago. Erin deserves the right to choose what happens to her. You don't have a say in that." Vlad snapped at them. "My destiny was never predetermined by my Dad or anyone else. Fate chose mine. You chose Erin's. Fate has a different idea for her." His words were the truth. "I love Erin and I'd never tell her how to live her life or predetermine our children's." He eyeballed them all, not one of them could look at him properly. "It's about time you left her alone."

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Erin saw it, she assumed just before Vlad. The familiar purple orb that contained deadly rays of UV light.

Vlad flung out his arm and every UV bomb flew out of the window before the slayers could even blink. He didn't even bat an eyelid or take his eyes off them. He couldn't risk taking his eyes off them.

The slayers stared at their empty hands for a few moments before realising what he'd done.

The vampire needed to be dealt with.

Andrew let out a roar before launching himself at Vlad. The vampires spread out across the room so all their targets weren't in one place.

They'd expected this.

As the first blow narrowly missed him, Vlad needed to remember these slayers were nothing like those he'd come across before…

They had more stamina.

They were more experienced.

They were deadlier.

TBC

A/N: What do you think?

As I said I could turn this into a trilogy if you'd like it, I won't be offended if you don't.

Thanks for reading.